The police do not come to a woman before or during a violent crime. They come after the crime has been completed and the violent criminal has left the scene. It is extremely rare for a police officer to arrive in time to prevent or even interrupt a violent crime when a woman is the victim. How could he? She could not call the police before her attacker left.
Given that truth, it is vitally necessary for a woman in danger to have the right and the ability to protect herself and her children when the attack begins. If she cannot protect herself, the police will not be there to protect her, and she will be just another headline.
Allowing a law-abiding woman, who has met all the qualifications and standards required of an RCMP constable and has no criminal record, to have the ability to protect herself does not make her a menace to society. Issue her an authorization so that she can carry a handgun for protection of human life from criminal violence. Then the mere fact that she exists is enough to spread a blanket of protection over all women, because a violent criminal does not and cannot know when his chosen victim will be able to protect herself from his attack.
The law allows the issuance of such authorizations, but the federal and provincial bureaucrats refuse to issue them--and that is illegal. A bureaucrat can say no, but he is only a decision-maker, not a lawmaker. He has no legal right to reject all applications!
Of course, there will be few such women, because the training required takes time, money, and effort. But if a violent criminal does not know which woman is carrying a handgun, he will be deterred from attacking any woman.
You think that's ridiculous? In Orlando, Florida, in 1966, the rape rate was very high. Therefore police began to train women in the safe handling and use of handguns. The rape rate fell from 36 per year in 1966 to 4 per year in 1967. And it stayed down. That was not because the women were shooting anyone. They weren't. It was because major publicity said that some of them could--and might! We need that protection for Canadian women.
Violence against women is a major crisis in our society. For decades, our government has failed in its obligation to protect women. As long as perpetrators of violence against women can commit their crimes without serious fear of prosecution or punishment, the circle of violence will never be broken. If a man intends to commit suicide after killing a woman and her children, the law is helpless and cannot deter him.
For a woman in danger, the ability to defend herself and her children with a handgun is by far the safest course of action. The propaganda about an attacker advancing toward an armed woman is just that--propaganda. In real life, he is terrified, and runs like a rabbit.
The usefulness of a handgun doesn't always involve firing it. A verbal request to be left alone, if and only if coupled with a displayed handgun, is sufficient to discourage most violent attackers from further hostile actions. In fact, it scares the pants off them. If a woman had a handgun, would you move toward her, or away from her? In the rare instances where presenting a handgun does not stop aggression, firing it usually does. A man with a bullet in his leg loses all interest in rape, assault, and murder.
Women are targets in violent crime, and that endangers women's lives. If violent crime towards women is to be controlled, it is only the intended victims who can do it. Violent criminals do not respect the right to life. They do not fear the police or the justice system. Therefore, they must be taught to fear their victims!
Violence against women is evident in all communities, cultures and income levels. It's a horrifying reality. It is also a horror for many women who are forcibly intimidated, sexually assaulted, or brutally raped. They are frequently permanently disabled by long-term terror--or they are murdered in cold blood, with no chance of protecting themselves.
There is no one type of woman victim. All women are vulnerable to violence, but some are more vulnerable than others. Inconceivably, innocent women with disabilities of all types and helpless elderly women are at a very high risk of being physically and sexually abused by dangerous men.
Women in the sex trade and women who are trafficked for forced prostitution or forced labour are at enormous risk of sexual and physical abuse, and even murder. As the police tell us, the malice and viciousness of some of those sexual assaults and murders is beyond belief.
Police describe the behaviour of many of the men who assault prostitutes as very physical, very intimate, and designed to hurt. Statistically, prostitutes very frequently get into the sex trade as very young girls fleeing abusive homes. They do not deserve to become victims of violent, vicious men. They deserve to be protected from criminal violence, and are not.
The same is true for many women who are trapped in abusive relationships. Young women, many still in their teens, married or living common law, are statistically at higher risk of being "owned" and abused by their partners. However, even mature educated women can be and often are fooled by dangerous men, falling into a trap that offers them only violent physical and sexual abuse. Dangerous men are not monsters all the time. They can be quite charming and likeable, when they choose to be. Their deadly violence is preceded by gradually increasing psychological abuse and control, which makes it even harder for women to find their way out of abusive relationships.
Ironically, this means that many women put their lives in peril when they decided to end such a relationship. The most dangerous time for a woman in an abusive relationship is the time when she decides to leave. The majority of such women who are murdered are killed either when they give notice that they intend to leave or when they actually try to leave, but many are killed after leaving. The danger can persist for years, with police losing interest every day.
Other women live in constant fear, because once a violent man loses his power of control, his obsession and persistence, as well as his stalking and threats against his victim, can be unimaginable. Restraint orders issued by the courts to such men are ineffective. They mean nothing to truly dangerous men. When we see the results in a newspaper headline, it is not enough to say, "Why did they let him out of jail?" Women need something better.
Some women have no choice but to work alone. For example, some women real estate agents must go to meet men they have met only over the telephone, at vacant houses, farms, or acreages. There are women who work alone in businesses that are open late at night or open very early in the morning.
Parking lots and garage parking are also opportunities for violent abuse of women. Staff parking is often in an isolated area with poor lighting. Elevators and stairways to garage parking are prime hiding spots for attackers, leaving women no choice but to enter dangerous situations. When a criminal has the ability to predict the location and movements of a potential victim, an ambush is easy.
Minor skill in a martial art is not enough to protect a woman against attack by a violent man. Men are larger and stronger, so only one solid blow is required to knock a woman to the ground, stunned, helpless, and terrified.
Whistles and alarms are not really useful. They are often mistaken for a common car alarm, and who pays any attention to a car alarm these days?
Our homes are full of potentially dangerous things. As parents, we have a responsibility to teach our children the safety aspects of daily living as they grow. The kitchen is a very dangerous room, full of knives, stove burners, utensils, and appliances. We have vitamins, prescription drugs, and hazardous household cleaners. We have power tools, the lawn mower, garden tools, and sports equipment. We teach our children about all of these hazards.
We also teach them how to ride their first bike, and eventually, how to drive the family car, as well as water and land recreational vehicles. So, why shouldn't firearms be on the list of things in the house? They are not a greater risk than other things on those lists. Cars are far more dangerous, and kill far more people.
Not only is women's self-protective potential still politically ignored, women are also handicapped by firearms control law restrictions. How long do we have to wait for justice? Our government has the responsibility to protect women in this country--and doesn't. The government holds the solution for improved prevention of violent crime against women, and yet it keeps on actively and lethally perpetuating the problem.
Women everywhere have the right to live free of the fear of violent crime. It's up to us as women to fight for the rights of women. We must persuade our government to change its attitude about the firearms control laws! Don't let the danger to your sisters continue to get worse! Making Canada a safer place for women is a priority!
If you are tired of reading headlines about abused and murdered women, write to Irwin Cotler, Minister of Justice, 284 Wellington St, Ottawa ON, K1A 0H8. Better still, phone him at (613)995-0121. Tell him that you want any woman who has met all the qualifications and standards required of an RCMP constable and has no criminal record to be able to apply for an authorization to carry a concealed, loaded handgun for the protection of human life from criminal violence--and get it.